Leisure and Luxury

Leisure and Luxury

Get a rare behind-the-scenes look inside the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology as a team installs the largest exhibit in the museum’s history. See spectacular artifacts unearthed near Pompeii, from the time of Julius Caesar (around 50 BC) to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius (AD 79). The special exhibition runs now through May 15. It occupies about 2,500 square feet, and includes some 250 objects.

In the age of Nero

Visitors will see sculpture, wall fragments, jewelry, and coins found among the ruins of Oplontis near Pompeii. Oplontis was an enormous luxury villa in the Bay of Naples, which likely belonged to the Roman empress Poppaea, second wife of Nero. This statue of Aphrodite would have been found in a garden pergola, surrounded by plants. In the background, Kelsey conservator Carrie Roberts touches up the base supporting “the Huntress.” (Image by Austin Thomason, Michigan Photography.)

Hot spot

The Bay of Naples was a thriving commercial and military port before Vesuvius erupted in AD 79. Its lush landscape, fresh water, and high culture attracted the region’s wealthiest citizens. The items in this exhibit were buried under a kind of lightweight pumice and ash, layered in with mudflows. This piece sits on a custom base, which is now hidden to visitors. (Image by Austin Thomason, Michigan Photography.)

Past and present

Tools of the trade have come a long way since AD 79. Portrait sculptures like these lined a villa path along the garden of the north wall, and alluded to the link between mortals and the divine. (Image by Austin Thomason, Michigan Photography.)

In context

The Kelsey team has created an environment (still in progress here) to provide visitors with a social and intellectual context for the art and artifacts, using roofline ornaments and marble column capitals (far left) for spatial reference. (Image by Austin Thomason, Michigan Photography.)

The Huntress

Kelsey conservator Carrie Roberts says this statue of the Huntress, carved in marble, would have been painted in bright colors and displayed poolside, which was typical of the elite families of the time. According to the field of “garden archaeology,” the Huntress probably stood in front a tree, aligned with a column of the portico, typifying the Roman penchant for orderly arrangement. Her head was constructed on a base that fit into her hollow neck socket. Alas, the head remains undiscovered. (Image by Austin Thomason, Michigan Photography.)

Bring it home

Elaine Gazda, Kelsey’s curator of Hellenistic and Roman collections, has visited the Bay of Naples numerous times since excavation began at Oplontis in 1964. Many of the same archaeologists and excavators continue to work there, unearthing wall fragments like these, some of which are on display at the Kelsey. Gazda, professor of classical art and archaeology, also created and taught a course on the life and art of Roman villas, using much of the material excavated in the last 50 years. (Image courtesy of the Kelsey Museum.)

The wall

Villa A at Oplontis is famous for its remarkable frescoes. "These Roman generals who’d been out conquering came back with all this incredible wealth, so they wanted to show it off," Gazda says. Experts reconstructed the villa’s east wall on site in Italy; the wall was part of a large reception hall painted in the second style of Pompeian wall painting. In spring of 2013 the Oplontis team found and identified a number of uncatalogued fresco fragments that were part of the room’s west wall. A 9-foot by 18.5-foot detail of the reconstruction is part of the Kelsey exhibit. (Image courtesy of the Kelsey Museum.)

Paint, power, and a little bit of dirt

“We did get our hands dirty more than once,” Gazda says, “moving those fragments around on the floor.” She is pictured here with colleague John Clarke, PhD, of the University of Texas at Austin. The wall paintings are typical of Roman art history during the late republic, when Rome was first expanding into the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, and North Africa. "These wall paintings are amazing statements of just how powerful these people thought they were," says Gazda. (Image courtesy of the Kelsey Museum.)

You can’t take it with you

A second piece of the exhibition showcases a neighboring structure in which archaeologists discovered 54 skeletons of people who perished in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Experts assume they were awaiting rescue that never came. Nine of them had a significant cache of jewels and coins, some of which are pictured here. A 22-year-old pregnant woman was among the wealthy – and the dead. “It speaks to the absolute human tragedy of the volcanic eruption,” Gazda says. (Image courtesy of the Kelsey Museum.)

Blood and treasure

“I hope this show will resonate with people who come to see it as something that is not unfamiliar,” Gazda says. “You look at all those skeletons and think: ‘There’s a lesson here. Look at all this wealth.' It’s not as though our society is exactly like the Romans’ but we do experience similar disparities -- with the very, very rich who really do have, and those who do not. It’s a vivid illustration of a concept endemic in human society across time.” (Image courtesy of the Kelsey Museum.)

Strongbox

Conservators reconstructed this fine strongbox in gilded bronze; it bears the signatures of three Greek craftsmen, and the detail work is extraordinary. The piece will anchor an exhibit titled “Commerce and Wealth,” showcasing the commercial center near the villa. The site was a hub for wine production, storage, and shipping. (Image by Austin Thomason, Michigan Photography.)

Strongbox, in detail

“I find it such an enriching experience to study civilizations through their material culture, from humble objects to very refined pieces at the highest end, and to try to relate to people of the past in that way,” Gazda says. “I’m interested in the stories these things tell and how they still resonate with this society.” (Image by Austin Thomason, Michigan Photography.)

Girl talk

The marble statues of the Huntress (left) and Victory patiently await departure from Italy to Ann Arbor. Transportation is no simple feat: This marble statue of Victory, alone, weighs about 1,500 pounds. (Image courtesy of the Kelsey Museum.)

World traveler

Here Victory is ensconced in a custom crate outfitted with stabilizing layers and brackets to secure her position. This sculpture would have stood in the villa’s east garden. Fragments of a 4th-style ceiling painting, and walls painted in the 4th style décor of Villa A’s Neronian-period wing, place Victory in a replica of her native setting. (Image courtesy of Sebastian Encina, Kelsey Museum.)

Eternally ethereal

“I never can name favorites, but the one piece that really appeals to me on a gut level is the Victory statue,” says Gazda. “I find her so ethereal, so serene. She’s not necessarily a masterpiece in the way we like to define masterpieces, but she exudes such an expressive quality, especially in the wonderfully serene face.” (Image courtesy of Sebastian Encina, Kelsey Museum.)

On the road again

Once the Kelsey exhibit concludes May 15, Sebastian Encina, museum collections manager, will work with the Kelsey staff to repack the precious items in these custom-made Italian crates. The items next will appear at Montana State University and Smith College, partners with Kelsey in the Oplontis exhibition. Curators at the other museums will use the Kelsey’s materials, including custom bases for various sculptures, descriptive text, and the exhibition catalog. (Image by Austin Thomason, Michigan Photography.)

COMMENTS

Cheryl Sinclair - 1975

Wow! How I want to come back for this exhibit!
I used to love the museum and try to visit when I
can on trips back to A2. What a coup this exhibit is!

Congratulations for the wonderful shows and those who have worked so hard so were to go ahead . I am sure that our Oplontis will amaze you . Then of course we expect in Torre Annunziata to end the discovery of this jewel of antiquity .
In friendship , Vincenzo Marasco,
Torre Annunziata , Naples – Italy.